About the need to use specific population references in estimating paediatric hypertension: Sardinian blood pressure standards (age 11-14 years)

Clinical and genetic attributes of congenital anomalies ascertained at a tertiary care hospital in Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Objective

Congenital anomalies (CA) or birth defects cause substantial healthcare burden in developing countries. There are few studies from Pakistan on the prevalence-pattern of CA. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence-pattern and genetic attributes of CA at a tertiary care facility in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Methods

In a cross-sectional study design, patients with CA were ascertained from Pediatric and Neonatal Section of Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi from March-2022 to June-2022. International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) databases were utilized for uniformity in classification. The pattern of CA as well as familial/sporadic nature, syndromic/isolated presentations, and prenatal consanguinity were estimated. Descriptive summaries were generated.

Results

A total of 517 independent cases with certain types of CA were recruited. There were eight major and 70 minor categories. Among the major categories, neurological disorders (39.1%) were predominating followed by neuromuscular disorders (21.1%), limb defects (13.5%), musculoskeletal defects (7.4%), blood disorders (4.3%), orofacial defects (3.9%), metabolic disorders (3.7%), and Others (7.1%). The sporadic cases were in majority (72.5%) compared to familial cases (27.5%). Further, 63% patients had syndromic presentations and there were 37% cases with isolated appearances. A total of 70% cases had parental consanguinity.

Conclusion

The majority of anomalies were of preventable nature and certain healthcare measures including antinatal care and counseling can be adopted to minimize their burden. Additionally, there is an urgent need to raise awareness of the negative consequences of consanguineous marriages, which constitute a significant risk factor in cases with inherited CA.

A comparison of paediatric hypertension clinical practice guidelines and their ability to predict adult hypertension in an African birth cohort

It remains unclear which paediatric hypertension clinical practice guideline (CPG) should be applied in an African population. We, therefore, aimed to compare commonly used CPG (2017 AAP, 2016 ESH, 2004 Fourth Report) developed in high-income countries for use in South African children at four paediatric ages (children: 5 years, 8 years; adolescents: 13 years, 17 years) to determine which best predicts elevated blood pressure (BP) in adulthood (22 years, 28 years). Moreover, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for each specific paediatric CPG was calculated across the age points. The 2017 AAP definition identified more children and adolescents with hypertension when compared to the 2004 Fourth Report and 2016 ESH guidelines. In computed hazards ratios, ages 8 years to 17 years, all three paediatric CPG significantly predicted the risk of elevated BP in young adulthood (p ≤ 0.032). However, sensitivity to predict elevated BP at age 22 years for all CPG was generally low (17.0%-33.0%) with higher specificity (87.4%-93.1%). Sensitivity increased at age 28 years (51.4%-70.1%), while specificity decreased (52.8%-65.1%). Both PPV and NPV at both adult age points varied widely (17.9%-79.9% and 29.3%-92.5% respectively). The performance of these paediatric CPG in terms of AUC were not optimal at both adult age points, however, the 2017 AAP definition at age 17 years met an acceptable level of performance (AUC = 0.71). Our results, therefore, highlight the need for more research to examine if an African-specific CPG would better identify high-risk children to minimise their trajectory towards adult hypertension.

Anthropometric predictors of systolic and diastolic blood pressure considering intersexual differences in a group of selected schoolchildren

OBJECTIVES

Although the association between anthropometric parameters and blood pressure has been established for adults, the relationship for children has not been thoroughly studied in Slovakia. Present study investigates the association between anthropometric parameters and systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the group of randomly selected schoolchildren.

METHODS

Examinations were conducted as a cross-sectional study with 760 schoolchildren from Eastern Slovakia, 381 boys and 379 girls. The blood pressure evaluation included sphygmomanometer technique (seated, 3 times repeated) measurement of systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP; DBP). Anthropometric measurements included: body weight, height, circumference of waist, hip and chest, BMI, WHR (waist-hip ratio), fat skinfolds measurement, triceps skinfold, and derivation of body fat percentage. The parents' questionnaires incorporated basic demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the family, reported BMI of father and mother, and child's birth-weight and birth-length. Statistical analysis included Student's t-test gender differences in measured parameters, partial Pearson's correlations and linear regression model of the impact of body parameters Z-scores on SBP and DPB.

RESULTS

Statistical analysis confirmed gender difference in basic anthropometric parameters. Pearson's correlations revealed highly significant relationship of anthropometric indices to SBP compared to DBP. Correlations of anthropometric parameters with SBP and DPB were more significant for boys compared to girls. Linear regression analysis showed that the highest impact on SBP and DBP had Z-score of BMI, followed by weight and height. Z-score of body weight has statistical impact on SBP and DBP in all group and group of boys (p < 0.001), lower significance was in DBP of girls (p < 0.01). Similar results were obtained for Z-score of height and BMI for SBP and DBP in both total group and group of boys on level p < 0.001. Z-score for BMI and height in DBP has lower statistical significance.

CONCLUSIONS

Linear regression model confirmed higher statistical relationship of SBP and DBP in the group of boys compared to the group of girls. SBP correlations and linear regression model of anthropometric parameters revealed more significant outputs compared to DPB. The results confirmed the fact that we have to consider anthropometric indices in paediatric blood pressure evaluation.

[Study of obesity in a rural children population and its relationship with anthropometric variables]

Objetivos

Conocer la prevalencia de obesidad en escolares de educación primaria y secundaria, y evaluar la precisión diagnóstica de variables antropométricas para su detección.

Diseño

Estudio transversal. Año 2014.

Emplazamiento

Área rural de Córdoba.

Participantes

Población estudiantil. Se llevó a cabo un muestreo estratificado por edad, género y centros educativos. Un total de 323 alumnos de 6 a 16 años fueron estudiados, cuyos padres habían firmado el consentimiento informado.

Mediciones principales

Se determinó la prevalencia de obesidad y se recogieron variables predictoras sociodemográficas, antropométricas, de condición física y alimentación. Se realizó una regresión logística binaria determinando los valores de odds ratio (OR) crudas y ajustadas, se confeccionaron curvas ROC y se determinaron valores de corte, calculando la sensibilidad, la especificidad y el índice de Youden.

Resultados

La prevalencia de sobrepeso y obesidad fue del 26,2 y 22,3%, respectivamente. Solo un 15,2% de los escolares realizó dieta mediterránea óptima. El índice cintura-altura (ICT) fue la variable predictiva con mayor OR ajustada (7,1 [4,3-11,6]) y mayor área bajo la curva (0,954 [0,928-0,979]); a partir de un valor de corte global para discriminar obesidad de 0,507, consiguió una sensibilidad del 90% y una especificidad del 87,2%.

Conclusiones

La alta prevalencia de obesidad, la media-baja adherencia a la dieta mediterránea y la baja condición física hacen de esta población un objetivo prioritario de actuación para la prevención de futuros eventos cardiovasculares. El ICT ha sido el mejor predictor antropométrico de obesidad, recomendándose su uso para el diagnóstico de obesidad en población infantil en detrimento del índice de masa corporal.

Obesity and Obesity Related Diseases, Sugar Consumption and Bad Oral Health: A Fatal Epidemic Mixtures: The Pediatric and Odontologist Point of View

Obesity and dental caries are increasingly widespread pathologies. The former is growing so rapidly that the WHO classified its trend as an "epidemic". Both are triggered by a number of well known common etiologic factors sharing also the high added sugar amount since childhood. Because of its fermentation and pH lowering, dietary sugar allows the cariogenic bacteria to damage the tooth enamel provoking the carious lesions. WHO guidelines recommend reducing sugar intake to 10% of the total daily energy need, and highlight that there is evidence which suggests cuttingthis value down to 5% at least. The American guidelines addressing paediatric age put the limit to 25gr a day with a total ban on sugar in those aged 2 or less.

Pediatric hypertension in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia

Objectives:

To compare the levels of blood pressure (BP) between male and female adolescents in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and reference percentiles for Saudi adolescents. A secondary aim was to explore the distribution of BP among the participants based on age and gender.

Methods:

This cross-sectional study was conducted among 146 boys and girls attending intermediate and secondary schools in 2 regions (Al-Mallaha and Al-Mubarraz) in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Weight, random blood glucose, and BP were collected by a team of health educators in the morning of the school day between April and May 2014.

Results:

Of the current sample of adolescents originally from the Eastern Province, 30% had systolic blood pressure (SBP) of ≥140 mm Hg and 22% had diastolic blood pressure of ≥90 mm Hg. For girls between 13 and 16 years old, the SBP was greater than the 95th percentile of Saudi national norms. Participants were classified by gender and school stage, and one-way analysis of variance showed significant differences in the means of SBP between intermediate boys (127±2.5 mm Hg) and secondary boys (136±2.1 mm Hg) (p<0.05), and between intermediate boys and intermediate girls (138±1.6 mm Hg) (p<0.01).

Conclusion:

The increased level of BP among adolescents originally from the Eastern Province raises the need to update the current BP nomograms, considering possible differences for specific geographic areas across the country. Implementing therapeutic life style management in girls’ schools is recommended.

Safety of probiotics and synbiotics in children under 18 years of age

This study aimed to systematically evaluate safety of probiotics and synbiotics in children ageing 0-18 years. This study is the third and final part in a safety trilogy and an update is provided using the most recent available clinical data (2008-2013) by means of the Common Terminology Clinical Adverse Events (CTCAE version 4.0) classification. Safety aspects are represented and related to number of participants per probiotic strain/culture, study duration, dosage, clinical condition and selected afflictions. Analysis of 74 clinical studies indicated that probiotic and/or synbiotic administration in children is safe with regard to the specific evaluated strains, dosages and duration. The population of children include healthy, immune compromised and obese subjects, as well as subjects with intestinal disorders, infections and inflammatory disorders. This study revealed no major safety concerns, as the adverse events (AEs) were unrelated, or not suspected to be related, to the probiotic or synbiotic product. In general the study products were well tolerated. Overall, AEs occurred more frequent in the control arm compared to children receiving probiotics and/or synbiotics. Furthermore, the results indicate inadequate reporting and classification of AEs in the majority of the studies. In addition, generalizability of conclusions are greatly limited by the inconsistent, imprecise and potentially incomplete reporting as well as the variation in probiotic strains, dosages, administration regimes, study populations and reported outcomes.

Strengths and limitations of current pediatric blood pressure nomograms: a global overview with a special emphasis on regional differences in neonates and infants

The availability of robust nomograms is essential for the correct evaluation of blood pressure (BP) values in children. A literature search was conducted by accessing the National Library of Medicine by using the keywords BP, pediatric and reference values/nomograms. A total of 43 studies that evaluated pediatric BP nomograms were included in this review. Despite the accuracy of the latest studies, many numerical and methodological limitations still remain. The numerical limitations include the paucity of data for neonates/infants and for some geographic areas (Africa/South America/East Europe/Asia) and ethnicities. Furthermore, the data on ambulatory BP and response to exercise are extremely limited, and the criteria for stress-test interruption are lacking. There was heterogeneity in the methodologies employed to perform the measurements, in the inclusion/exclusion criteria (often not reported), in the data normalization and the data expression (Z-scores/percentiles/mean values). Although most studies adjusted the measurements for age and/or height, the classification by specific age/height subgroups varied. Gender differences were generally considered, whereas other confounders (that is, ethnicity/geographic area/environment) were seldom evaluated. As a result, nomograms were heterogeneous, and when comparable, at times showed widely different confidence intervals. These differences are most likely because of both methodological limitations and differences among the populations studied. Some robust nomograms exist (particularly those from the USA); however, it has been demonstrated that if adopted in other countries/continents, they may generate an unpredictable bias in the evaluation of BP values in children. Actual pediatric BP nomograms present consistent limitations that affect the evaluation of BP in children. Comprehensive nomograms, which are based on a large population of healthy children (including neonates/infants) and use standardized methodology, are warranted for every country/region.

Pediatric hypertension: An update on a burning problem

A large number of adults worldwide suffer from essential hypertension, and because blood pressures (BPs) tend to remain within the same percentiles throughout life, it has been postulated that hypertensive pressures can be tracked from childhood to adulthood. Thus, children with higher BPs are more likely to become hypertensive adults. These “pre-hypertensive” subjects can be identified by measuring arterial BP at a young age, and compared with age, gender and height-specific references. The majority of studies report that 1 to 5% of children and adolescents are hypertensive, defined as a BP > 95^th percentile, with higher prevalence rates reported for some isolated geographic areas. However, the actual prevalence of hypertension in children and adolescents remains to be fully elucidated. In addition to these young “pre-hypertensive” subjects, there are also children and adolescents with a normal-high BP (90^th-95^th percentile). Early intervention may help prevent the development of essential hypertension as they age. An initial attempt should be made to lower their BP by non-pharmacologic measures, such as weight reduction, aerobic physical exercise, and lowered sodium intake. A pharmacological treatment is usually needed should these measures fail to lower BP. The majority of antihypertensive drugs are not formulated for pediatric patients, and have thus not been investigated in great detail. The purpose of this review is to provide an update concerning juvenile hypertension, and highlight recent developments in epidemiology, diagnostic methods, and relevant therapies.